Button.



N. TWEET.

BUTTON. APPLICATION FILED IEB.25, 1910.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

M II Hill ATTORNEYS THENORRIS PETERS cm, wnsumswu, n. c.

HOWARD, or VHILLSBORO, NORTH DAKOTA. 7

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 25, 1910.

BUTTON.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910. Serial No. 545,909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, New Twnnr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hillsboro, in the county of Traill and State of North Dakota, have invented, a new and Improved Button, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are: to provide an extensible eyelet adapted to conform to varying thicknesses of button secured materials; to provide a resilient support for said eyelet whereby the same will be returned to its initial position after being extended to button materials of excessive thickness; to provide an extensible eyelet for buttons the path of extension whereof is circular and concentric with a point laterally removed from the center of said button; and to provide a simplified construction for buttons of the character set forth which is economical, efficient and durable.

One embodiment of the present invention is disclosed in the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure l is a vertical section taken on the line 11 in Fig. 2, of a button constructed and arranged in conformity with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same taken on the line 2-2 in Fig.1; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

The particular application in which buttons constructed in conformity with the present invention are employed, is in the production of so called uniform buttons, wherein the same button is utilized on eyeleted garments, the thickness of which may vary considerably. An instance of the variation in the use of buttons of the character specified is that of the ordinary summer sack coat and the winter overcoat. A disadvantage under which buttons of this type have heretofore labored has been that where the shank or eyelet of the button has been sufliciently long to adapt it for use in the heavier articles, a hanging, loose appearance is produced when the same button is applied to articles of thinner construction. This objection is overcome in the present invention by employing a shank or eyelet which is extensible and contractible, being governed and moved therein by a properly disposed constructed spring retracting structure.

The embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying drawings consists of a shank 4, elongated to rest against the crown 5 of a button, when the lower end of an eyelet 6 is extended just sufiiciently to receive the fastening device by which the button is secured to the garment, whether that be by permanent sewing or by a sli bar extended through the eyelet 6 after the same has been protruded through a perforation formed in the garment.. The shank l, by reason of its elongation, ermits the extension of the eyelet 6 throng a thickness of garment of the heavier makes. When the securing means for the button is, as stated, the ordinary form of sewing, the extension of the shank 4 serves to permit the comfortable use of the heavier form of garment over which the button extends. In this use the present invention is advantageous in that it avoids the sag of the button after the gar ment has been unbuttoned. It is a common objection to buttons on heavy garments, such as overcoats, that the shank is necessarily so long that the button sags and drops in an unseemly manner after the coat is unbuttoned.

With a shank constructed in accordance with the present invention the button would be laid substantially flat against the button supporting edge of the garment when the garment is unbuttoned.

The shank 4 is retracted in the present instance by means of a spring coil 7. The coil 7 is regulated in its diameter by the space between the meeting edge of the crown 5 and the back 8. To anchor the coil 7 and fix it in its expansion the ends of the coil are extended to form outstretched legs 9, 9. The legs 9, 9 are disposed in outstretched position over the back 8 and are retained in position by spurs 10, 10. The arch 11 is regulated in length by the distance between the coil 7 and a perforation 12 formed in the back of the button, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. In construction, the arch 11 is intended to rest directly over the perforation 12 when the shank 4 is fully extended. The shank 4 is given a circular shape, the line whereof is concentric with the coil 7. By means of this formation, and the fact that the said shank pivots on the coil 7 there is produced an extension of the shank 4c, the path of travel whereof is somewhat acutely angular with the back 8, producing in this manner a clamping action of the button upon the interposed or buttonholed edge of the garment, when the same is buttoned. This'arrangement of the shank and the coil 7 aids in the operation wherein the one side of the button is lifted in freeing the buttonhole of the garment. In the present instance it is preferred that the lifted side shall always be that removed from the coil 7. In the action, the edge of the button bearing the coil 7 is utilized as a fulcrum against which the leverage is employed to extend the shank 4: against the spring-pressure sufficient to free the buttonhole from the button on the one side thereof. Having one edge of the buttonhole freed, it is an easy matter to slip the buttonhole clear of the button by a lateral movement of the-garment carrying the buttonhole. The reverse of the action above described is followed when the garment is being buttoned, the disposition of the coil and shank aiding in this action, as well as in the action of unbuttoning.

In construction the simplicity of the present button is obvious, all that is required being that the back of the ordinary button should be punched to form the perforation l2, and the spurs 10,-the eyelet 6, arch 11, 0011 7 and legs 9, 9 all being formed from the same piece of spring wire. This wire structure is placed in position on the back, when the crown 5 is forced thereover, and the edges of the said crown overturned on the said back as in ordinary button manufacture.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is p A button, comprising a hollow body portion; and a spring wire member disposed within said hollow body, and having a coil section, extended legs, an arch, and a shank extended from said arch provided with an eyelet disposed beyond said body portion.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

NELS TWEET. Witnesses:

P. G. SwENsoN, HELEN C. ROVER. 

